Pneumatic wheel.



J. DOVE-SMITH.

PNEUMATIC WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED DEC.3, |913. LMMWQ@ mem@ Appr. 13, 191,5

2 SHEETS-*SHEET 1.

J. DOVE-SMITH.

PNEUMATIC WHEEL. APPmcATloN FILED oms, 1913.

Mmmm

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIT/M8858 Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

JOSEPH DOVE-SMITH, 0F NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.

PNEUMATIC WHEEL.

maarre.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed Apr. 313, MM5.

Application ined December 3, i913. semi no. 804,390.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH Dove-SMITH, citizen of the British Empire, and a resident of Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Pneumatic Wheel, of which the following isa full, clear, and eX- act description.

rlhis invention relates to resilient Wheels and has particular reference to Wheels of this character which are intended to afford a cushioned support for vehicles or the like butl without the attendant dangers or an.

noyances' incident t0 wheels having tires ma de of rubber or rubber compositi on.

Among the objects of the invention, more definitely stated, is to provide a wheel of any ordinary or conventional ferm with respect especially to the hubs, spokes and rim, but provided on the periphery of said rim with a peculiar form of auxiliary rim in the nature of a rigid 'shell having a circumferential air chamber and provided v`with a circular series of radially movable plungerscommunicating at their inner ends with said air chamber and constituting uit their cuter ends the tread portions of the wheel. i

Another object of the invention is to simplify and pi'acticalize the construction of tread plungers whereby'they are made to operate perfectly and reliably.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully described and clainied and illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this spcciication in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is va side elevation of a wheel made in accordance with a preferred emi bodiment of this invention, parts being insection and other parts broken away to show the interior construction; Fig. 2 is a plan view or development of a portion of the wheel tread; Fig. is a vertical transverse section of one of the .tread members, showing its relation in normal position to the rigid parts of the wheel; Fig. l is a detail in perspective of one of the plungers; and Fig. 5`isa detail on the line .5-5 of Fig. 3.

The' several parts of the device may be inadeof any suitable materials, and the rela- Ative sizes andproportions, as Well aS the general design of the mechanism, may be varied to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully set forth and speeiiically claimed.

By Way of illustration cf a practical ein-- bodiment of the invention, shew at 1() a hub of any ordinary or suitable size or type of Wheel having spokes 11 and a solid rim 12 to which my specific improvement if: adapted to be secured. Said rim 12 as ordinarily made is cylindrical in form and pre.YA vided with a smooth periphery egon which an auxiliary rim or casing 13 may be slipped and secured by any suitable or reliable means. Said auxiliary rim or casing as shown is preferably constructed se as to include an annular air chamber 1-i adapted to extend around and in close relation to the wheel rim 12 and of substantially the same width as the wheel and of Considerable ra dial depth, the shell 13 including solid wallsl 15, 1G and 17. rlhe wall 15 is fitted to the periphery of the rim 12, and opposite it en the other side of the chamber 14 is a wall 18 having formed theretl rough a series et' holes 19.

The numeral 20 indicates a series of cylinders communicating Withnnd extending outwardly radially from said holes 19. rthe cylinder walls S21', are spaced freni each other, as shown at 22, intermediate their ends, and at 23 the outer ends of the adjacent cylinders are connected by a web which but for the cylinder openings is continu/cai.Q all the way arcund the casing 13. it will thus be seen that the chamber walls 15, le, 17 and 1S, the cylinder walls Q1 and the web constitute an integral structure .which may be made as a single casting or in any othersuitable manner. This casing may be secured to the wheel rim 12 in any manner wel] understood in the art as, for instance, by means ef an inwardly extending integral flange '24 en' one side of the rimV lzi anda deti'iel'iable rim or flange 25 en the. opposite slde of the rim 12.

In each of the cylinders 2O is slidabliv fitted a plunger 2G comprising a pistondike stein 27 which is fitted in the-corresponding cylinder 2O as a piston of an engine is fitted .J

after more fully set forth. Each piston 2'? hub 'f the wheel.

vcomprises, in connection with the rigid stem portion 28, a sleeve 29 arranged between a pair of airtight packing members 30. Each'of these packing members is substantially U-shaped in cross section and has its open portion on the inside or toward the These members may be made of leather, sheet metal or any other suitable material adapting them to spread under the force of the compressed air within the chamber 14 and thereby automatically seal the space between the stem 28 and the -wall of the cylinder- 20. The sleeve`29 and the packing members 30 are secured in place upon the stem 28 by means of lock nuts 31. vFrom Fig. 3 it will be observed that the shoulder A30 against which the closed outer end of each of the packing members is seat- .ed is preferably concave which gives ay irm4 and secure bearing. seat for such member and which adds to the air locking effect of such member. Any air from the chamber 14 which may leak through between the lock nuts 3l andthe wall of the cylinder 2U Will fill the first or inner member 30 and spread the same, making it diiiicult for any of the air to pass beyond it, but by provision of the outer member 30 the air is made complete.

The outer end of each of the members 27 consists of a head 32 which is substantially arc-shaped in a direction around thel wheel and is adapted lto bear against the web 23 ofthe casing whereby the inward radial movement of the plunger is limited as c shown at the bottom of Fig. 1,` preventing the inner end of the plunger from nnpiiiging against the inner wall of the annular air chamber 14. Normally the inner end of each plunger lies substantially flush with the outer wall of said chamber. Each of these heads may be fitted with a cushion 33, if desired, to deaden the noise and assist in relieving any shocks. The cushion 33 may be dove-tailed into a seat 34 on the head "32 or secured in any other suitable manner. As viewed in Fig. 2, the heads 32 are trapezoidal in form or have their'ends beveled in opposite directions, whereby the ends of adjacent heads overlap each other circumferentiallly of the wheel. In other words, each of the heads has Ia longer and a shorter lateral edge, and the shorter edge of one head alines with the longer edge of the next adjacent head around the wheel. It is obvious, however, that the adjacent ends of any two adjacent 'heads may be so arranged 'as to overlap without adhering strictly to the form herein shown and whereby similar eilect may be produced.

Air under pressure is forcedl into the chamber lithrough a valve 35 arranged at any suitable place and in a manner quite similar to the manner of infiating an ordinary resilient pneumatic tire. The comsealing pressed air within the chamber 14 communicates with all of the plungers 27 and acting upon their inner ends tends to maintain the plungers forced outwardly, as shown :in Fig. 3 and in Fig. 1 as to all of the plungers excepting those upon which the wheel is resting. By constructing the plungers of su'licient length and maintaining a high pressure of air within the chamber, the normal weight upon the wheel will be supported by the air cushion rather than upon the head 32 bearing upon the rim or web 23, as shown in Fig. l, this figure showing the position of the lower-most plunger when under extreme compression. It will be observed also that the radial throw of the air always will be effective to restore any' plunger to normal position after being compressed to the maximum extent.

The plungers are maintained in proper position in their respective cylinders 2() by a pair of studs 3G extending into grooves 37 in any suitable part of the plunger, shown, however, as in the-sleeve 29. These studs 36 prevent rotation of the plungers, and hence maintain theirI tread members or heads 32 in proper alinement. They also prevent the outward radial movement of the plungers under the force of the com-I` pressed air within the chamber tending to force them outward.

The casing 13 and the set of plungers carried 'thereby constitute a complete device adapted to be readily fitted to practically any ordinary form of wheel having a slid rim v12. These devices being made in various sizes may be readily littcd to practically any common wheel now in use. Itl is to be noted also that a wheel equipped with this improvement is substantially equivalent in resiliency to the pneumatic wheel now in common use but is not subject to blow-outs, punctures or othpr dangerous accompaniments oli the common pneumatic wheel.

Any suitable means may be used to prevent the tread members 27 from rotating within the sleeves 2t). 'l`o this end l use, by way of illustration, one or more keys 33 acting` between the stem 2S and the sleeve 2S).

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ln a pneumatic wheel, the con'ibination with a wheel structure including a solid rim` of a easing fitted to said rim and including an annular air .chamber and a circular series of plungers slidably fitted in the respective cylinders and maintained normally pressed outwardly by the air within the cylinder, each of the plungers including a stem extending through its cylinder, a sleeve fitted to the stem, a plurality of expansible packing members adjacent the endC nieuwe tt of said sleeve and serving to make the p1unger airtight7 means acting between the oesing and the sleeve to prevent rotation of the sleeve While permitting reoiprocation of the p same with the other parte of the plunger,

and means to prevent rotation of the stem Within the sleeve.

JOSEPH DOVE-SMITH. Witnesses E. R. DEWART, HUGH HEATHLEY WLsoN. 

